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Dumb Words/Famous People
"Airplanes
are interesting toys but of no military value."
Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole
Superieure de Guerre
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." Al
Gore
"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents,
1899
"640K ought to be enough for anybody." Bill
Gates, 1981
"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.
"Democrats understand the importance of bondage between a
mother and child." Al Gore
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously
considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently
of no value to us." Western Union internal memo,
1876.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their
home."
Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital
Equipment Corp., 1977
"I think there is a world market for maybe five
computers."
Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943
"When large numbers of men are unable to find work,
unemployment results." Calvin Coolidge
"I can't believe that we are going to let a majority of the
people decide what's best for this state." Rep.
John Travis of Jackson, La.
"I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more
freedom and democracy, but that could change." Al
Gore
"We're working on getting rid of unnecessary regulations and
making them more sensible." Bill Clinton
"I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply
with the law."
David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering
accusations that he failed to pay his taxes.
"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest
crime rates in the country." Mayor Marion Barry,
Washington, D.C.
"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good
judgments in the
future." Al Gore
"Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said,'
Thank God, I'm still alive.' But of course those who died, their
lives will never be the same again."
Representative Barbara Boxer (D-California)
"Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat
the same distance
from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures
where there are
canals, we believe, & water. If there is water we can
breathe." Al Gore
"I have nothing else to say. We -- we did -- if -- the --
the -- I -- I -- the stories are just as they have been
said."
Bill Clinton, when asked if there was any truth in the
stories about his extramarital affairs when he was the governor
of Arkansas
"The President has kept all of the promises he intended to
keep."
Clinton aide George Stephanopolous
"As many of you know, I was very instrumental in the
founding of the Internet."
Al Gore
"If I want to knock a story off the front page, I just
change my hairstyle." Hillary Clinton
"They don't call me Tyrannosaurus Sex for nothing." Ted
Kennedy
"If it would prevent him from writing another book like
Earth in the Balance, I hope he'll run for President." Columnist
George Will, on whether Al Gore will run for President in '04
"Louis Pasteur's theory of germs is ridiculous
fiction."
Pierre Pachet, Professor of Physiology at Toulouse, 1872
"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all
over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be
skinny like that but not with all those flies and death and
stuff." Mariah Carey
"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very
important part of your life."
Brooke Shields, during an interview to become
spokesperson for a federal anti-smoking campaign
"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my
body."
Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball
forward
"The streets are safe in Philadelphia. It's only the people
who make them unsafe."
Frank Rizzo, ex-police chief and mayor of Philadelphia
"I've always thought that underpopulated countries in Africa
are vastly underpolluted."
Lawrence Summers, chief economist of the World Bank,
explaining why we should export toxic wastes to Third World
countries
"The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing."
Dizzy Dean explaining how he felt after being hit on the
head by a ball in the 1934 World Series
